Choosing The Right Side
by rlb190
Summary: Connor Stoll has always been the prankster from Cabin 11, the second pair to a set of brothers. He's a thief and you shouldn't trust him. Was he always just a another child of Hermes? It all started when he burned a pack of M and M's for his dad at dinner, and a dirty napkin exploded out of the fire. (During BoO)


Conner Stoll had just burned a pack of peanut m and m's, when the pillar of fire suddenly exploded.

And this time, he hadn't made it explode.

On purpose.

Everyone backed away in a panic as ash clouds and fire threatened to burn their food or tables. Travis looked over at his brother. "Dude!" he complained as his cornuts caught on fire.

"I didn't do it this time!" Sure, Conner made something explode just about every other week, but it was just because he was a child of Hermes, right? That's all he could do. Prank people.

In the cloud of ash that followed suit, there was a napkin. The SAME one that he was sure his brother had burned away just moments before.

"W-what?" he mused out loud. He moved a little closer to the fire. Travis was too busy trying to put out his cornuts to notice. In fact, everyone was too busy to notice as he slipped his hand into the fire. It didn't feel hot, like it should have. It felt more like ice the anything. He pulled out the napkin from the flame and read it.

_Dear Conner,_

_Please give this to Rachel. Not a prank._

_Love,_

_Annabeth._

Conner stared at the note while the water nymphs rushed in with buckets of water to put out the fire. Despite all the chaos, Conner opened it and read it.

Then paled.

This idea she had... it was crazy.

But it just might work.

Travis noticed him finally "What's that?" he asked his brother.

"Percy and Annabeth..." Conner muttered out. Then,without warning, he raced from the dining hall and up the hill to the cave where Rachel lived.

Before he could reach the cave, he ran into Rachel. Literally.

They both fell to the floor from the impact. Rachel sat quickly. "Conner? What's going on in the-."

Conner had shoved the napkin in her face.

Rachel frowned at it, but opened it anyways and read the insides. "Oh dear. We have to tell Chiron." she said, almost robotic.

So, she did. Without Conner.

Instead of going back to the mess hall, he went into his cabin. It was messy, but in a good sort of way. He went over to his bunk, just below his brother's and sat on the bed. Feeling like it was safe, he went to unzipped the bed that he had slept on for so long. He took out the four things in there.

He put down the first three and held up a photograph. It was him, Travis, and their mother, Ana. When he closed his eyes, he could still see her face, her warm eyes and smile. Before the cancer, of course. Before she could barely speak, and couldn't get enough air into her lung because of those stupid tumors that ruined her life.

Before she died.

He put the picture of the much younger family down and pulled out another, worn down piece of paper. It was the results from this IQ test the state made everyone in his grade take. He ran his fingers over the line that scored him.

_IQ Score: 184_

But what good was that here? All he could ever do was prank people. Every single time he walked by the Athena cabin, he felt a twinge of jealousy. They were expected to be smart. He wasn't.

No one, only his mother, knew of his score. Not even Travis, his best friend and brother.

He set it down and picked up another photograph. This time, it showed just him and the former head counselor of their cabin, Luke.

Luke was like an older brother to Conner. He showed him how to fight, and always kept the cabin's spirits up. When Luke came back from his quest, Conner knew Luke was different. He was a lot more angry. No matter how large the grin was on his face, Conner knew that Luke was already gone.

He still remembered the conversation he had with him before he left the camp to join Kronos.

_"Where are you going, Luke?"_

_"I'm going for freedom."_  
><em>"Freedom? From what?"<em>

_"The gods."_

_"The gods?But-_

_"Did they ever do anything for you? They allowed your mother to get sick, Conner. They cursed you with such a keen mind you can't use. They don't care."_

_"..."_

_"Why don't you come with me?"_

_"Come with you?"_

_"Yeah. We could use you."_

_"Well, I'd have to get Tra-."_

_"No, just you."_

_"Why just me? Travis and I have done everything together."_

_"You can finally have a new family, Conner. Your mind can be put to good work."_

_"But, Travis is my best friend."_

_"Conner, no he isn't. He cares about you just as much as the gods do. Not at all."_

_"No."_  
><em>"Hmm?"<em>  
><em>"I said, no. Ever since you came back from that quest, Luke, you've been filled with hate. I've seen it. And Travis is a better friend then you ever were, or will be."<em>

_"Fine. But you're always welcome to join me, Conner. Lord Kronos could use that mind of yours."_

Conner frowned. What would have happened if he HAD taken Luke up on his offer? Would the war have been lost?

No.

Conner didn't do anything. They still would have won, with out without him.

He put down the photo and picked up the last thing. The one that he cared about the most. It was a small piece of paper, no bigger then two of his finger in length. On it, was the handwriting of his mother, back when she was in the ICU, and was nearing her ever looming death.

_I love you, Conner. Whichever side in this world you pick, make sure it's the good one._

It was the only note she had written just to him. He heard his cabin mates chattering outside, and he quickly shoved in the four papers into his bed and zipped it up.

"Hey, Conner! Where'd you go? We missed you at dinner."

"Yeah, Conner! It was soooo boring without you. Even with the fire.'

"We're about to go to the sing-along? Wanna come?"

Conner felt his heart almost burst with joy.

"Yeah. Bet ya I can hit the Ares kids with more marshmallows without getting killed then you." he grinned.

"Loser does dish duty for a week!"

"Dumbutt! They can't do dish duty if they were murdered by the Ares kids!"

"Oh yeah..."

He stood up and went out the door with his siblings, listening to them chatter happily. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey bro. Got your wallet." Travis said, waving Conner's wallet in front of him. Conner snatched it back and put it into his pocket, then laughed.

"Good one!"

So, did he make the right choice? Was he really happy here at camp?

That night, Conner was able to hit the Ares kids with 23 more marshmallows then Travis, who was later chased around by a very angry girl with a spear.

Oh yeah. He totally did.


End file.
